Wednesday 15 August 2007
Penicuik Park
East League Cup
Penicuik Athletic
Starting XI | Bald, Munro, Gordon, White, Foster, Lynch, Gay, Cole, Cameron, Ryrie, Montgomery
Subs | Salton, McKean, Black, Small
Goalscorer | Gay (pen 82)
Arniston Rangers
Starting XI | Girdwood, Shand, Moriarity, McGregor, McCluskey, Kennedy, Laird, Ellis, McCallum, Davidson, Hewitt
Subs | Richardson, Gilhooly, Waddell, McNaughton
Goalscorers | Laird (9), Hewitt (11, 33), McCallum (44), Ellis (76)
Penicuik, having got their League Cup campaign off to an excellent start with a big win over
Musselburgh, welcomed Arniston to Penicuik Park with high hopes for a successful run. Penicuik's line-up showed one change from the previous match with White coming in to replace the injured Cowan. In the event Penicuik turned in a performance that couldn't have been further from Saturday's effort with the pace, good passing and teamwork on show at Musselburgh having disappeared. Arniston, on the other hand, did all the right things on the night and ran out deserving and easy winners. As early as the 2nd minute, the tone for the evening was set when Penicuik gave the ball
away in midfield with a slack pass and Arniston had a half-chance to open the scoring. Almost immediately following this scare, Salton came on to replace a limping Gordon. All the early exchanges were towards the Penicuik goal and it came as no surprise when Arniston took the lead following a corner that was not properly cleared with Laird firing home on 9 minutes. Two minutes later the lead was doubled when Penicuik lost the ball in midfield and Hewitt strode forward to score with ease. At long last Penicuik created something and Cameron was unfortunate to see his 25-yarder beat keeper
Girdwood all ends up but hit the bar and cannon clear. Play continued to be dominated by Arniston and it came as something of a surprise when, on 32 minutes, Penicuik nearly scored when a Cameron chip from the edge of the box again beat Girdwood only to hit the underside of the crossbar and bounce to safety. Spurred on by this escape Arniston almost immediately increased their lead when Hewitt was presented with the ball with a misplaced Penicuik pass just in his own half and he raced cleared to finish dinically. Play continued to be dominated by Arniston and it came as no surprise when, on 44 minutes, another goal came along with McCallum volleying a right wing cross into the roof of the net from the edge of the penalty box. Penicuik almost were gifted a consolation effort right on half time when a sliced clearance forced Arniston's Girdwood to make a good save.
HALFTIME | Penicuik Athletic 0-4 Arniston Rangers
Any thoughts that the Penicuik support may have had about a turnaround in performance quickly disappeared when four minutes into the second half Bald had to come to Penicuik's rescue with a point-blank save after Arniston had broke through weak Penicuik defending. The pattern of the play changed little in the second half from the first with Arniston easily on top and looking dangerous in every attack and Penicuik struggling to string any passes together and get any momentum when going forward. It came as no surprise when, on 76 minutes, Arniston added to their goal tally with a superb shot from Ellis beating Bald and finding the roof of the net from around 25 yards out. Penicuik
continued to huff and puff to no great effect and Arniston were largely happy to coast along safely with big lead. A rare Penicuik concerted attack lead to a penalty on 82 minutes when Cameron was held down on an aerial challenge. Gay scored easily with powerful shot to give the home support something to cheer. The final minutes of the match passed with little to note and the final whistle brought a disappoint night for Penicuik to an end.
FULLTIME | Penicuik Athletic 1-5 Arniston Rangers
This was a deserved win for a well-organised and eager Arniston side and the score line was a
true reflection of the game. It must be hoped that early inconsistencies in the form of Penicuik
can be ironed quickly as, following the promise of the win at Musselburgh, there was little on
show at this match to warrant optimism for the season ahead.
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